SummerSlam (2001)
SummerSlam (2001) was the fourteenth annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and for the third time it was presented by Chef Boyardee. It took place on August 19, 2001, at the Compaq Center at San Jose in San Jose, California. In the main event, The Rock defeated Booker T for the WCW Championship, after executing a Rock Bottom. The other two main matches on the card were Steve Austin versus Kurt Angle for the WWF Championship, which Angle won, after Austin was disqualified for attacking referees, and Rob Van Dam defeated Jeff Hardy in a ladder match for the WWF Hardcore Championship. The other main match on the undercard in this event was included the Steel cage match between WCW Tag Team Champions Undertaker and Kane and WWF Tag Team Champions Diamond Dallas Page and Kanyon, which Undertaker and Kane won, after Undertaker executed the Last Ride and pinned Page. Storylines The main rivalry heading into SummerSlam was between The Rock and Booker T, battling over the WCW Championship. After losing the WWF Championship to Steve Austin at WrestleMania X-Seven, The Rock took a hiatus from professional wrestling to film the movie, The Scorpion King. On the edition of July 9, 2001 of Raw Is War, campaigning for The Rock's return began. Following the campaigning, The Rock returned to the WWF on the edition of July 30, 2001 of Raw Is War, where he chose to align himself with the WWF instead of The Alliance for The Invasion. This action was shown by The Rock delivering a Rock Bottom and the People's Elbow onto Shane McMahon, The Alliance leader. Later that week on SmackDown!, Booker T and The Rock cut a promo, where Booker T challenged The Rock to a match at SummerSlam; the beginning of the Rock-Booker T rivalry. Seeking revenge for the attack on the edition of July 30, 2001 of Raw Is War, McMahon fought The Rock in a Street Fight on the edition of August 6 of Raw Is War, where The Rock pinned McMahon. The rivalry between The Rock and Booker T intensified after the match, where Booker T and Shane McMahon double-teamed The Rock. Later that week on SmackDown!, in retaliation, The Rock accepted Booker T's challenge. On the edition of August 13 of Raw Is War, The Rock was involved in a tag team match, where he teamed with Chris Jericho in a loss to Booker T and Rhyno. After the match, Booker T delivered his variation of the Rock Bottom on The Rock, a move dubbed, The Book End. On the final edition of SmackDown! before SummerSlam, McMahon announced that Booker T would defend the WCW Championship at SummerSlam against The Rock. Later that night, the rivalry continued to intensify during a Lights Out match between Booker T and The Rock, after Booker T delivered a Book End onto The Rock through a commentators announce table. The other main match on the card was Steve Austin versus Kurt Angle for the WWF Championship. The previous month at Invasion, Team WCW/ECW (Booker T, Diamond Dallas Page, Rhyno and Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley) defeated Team WWF (Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, The Undertaker and Kane). Team WCW/ECW won after Austin turned on the WWF when he executed a Stunner on Angle. On the following night's edition of Raw Is War, Austin stated that he did this because he felt that Vince McMahon was grooming Angle to take over his spot, and that he was "unappreciated" when McMahon insisted he return to the old Austin. Later that evening, Austin interfered during six man Elimination Tables match by assaulting Angle. Then on the edition of July 26, 2001 of SmackDown!, Angle appeared in his hometown of Pittsburgh and challenged Steve Austin for the WWF title but Austin, instead, chose Booker T to defend his WCW Championship against Angle. Later on that night, Angle won the WCW title from Booker T despite Austin's interference. On the edition of July 30, 2001 of Raw Is War, Angle dropped the championship back to Booker T with the help of Steve Austin and Shane McMahon. Afterwards, Angle challenged Austin for the WWF Championship at SummerSlam, which Austin accepted. This would be the 2nd time that the two would meet one-on-one for the WWF title with the first being January 8 on Raw Is War. The feud between Austin and Angle would escalate in the following couple of weeks leading up to SummerSlam esp. in a Six Man Tag Team Elimination match pitting Austin and the Dudley Boyz against Angle and Matt and Jeff Hardy, which Austin's team won. Another main match heading into the event was Jeff Hardy versus Rob Van Dam in a Ladder match for the WWF Hardcore Championship. At Invasion Van Dam defeated Hardy to win the WWF Hardcore Championship. In the following weeks, after Van Dam and Hardy faced each other in Tag Team matches, on the edition of August 13, 2001 of Raw, Van Dam was scheduled to defend his title against Kurt Angle, and as the match was underway, Jeff Hardy interfered and pinned Van Dam to win the title for himself. This led to a Ladder match for the title at SummerSlam between Hardy and Van Dam. Results Other on-screen personnel See also * List of WWE pay-per-view events * SummerSlam Category:SummerSlam Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events Category:2001 Pay-Per-View Events